


where the brave shall live forever

by EllaYuki



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Light Angst, Loki POV, Loki tries to be comforting, M/M, Post-Ragnarok, Spoilers, thor is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 12:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12630627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaYuki/pseuds/EllaYuki
Summary: after the fall of asgard, loki finds his brother praying for his fallen friends and decides to give him a bit of hope.





	where the brave shall live forever

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: based on that one comment about how loki might have banished sif (as a in-universe reason for why she wasn’t in ragnarok).

‘…nor shall we mourn but rejoice for those that have died a glorious death.’

once again he ends up intruding upon his brother praying for the lost, eyes closed, head bowed, shoulders not quite slouched in defeat, but more in anguish. he decides not to interrupt him this time, letting him have his private moment.

after a few more minutes, thor slowly opens his eyes- _eye_ (and it will take loki a while to get used to it) and sighs. when he looks up at him, loki can see the deep sadness in his brothers heart.

‘praying for father again?’ he asks, as gently as he can. he has no reason to mock, not right now. ‘or for our lost home?’ he can understand the sentiment, he feels the loss just as keenly.

thor shakes his head, looks out the window next to him, into the vast emptiness of space. ‘i pray for my friends,’ he says, pain lacing his voice, and oh, that’s right, he hasn’t seen any of the warriors three during the battle on the bifrost bridge, nor after they have fled asgard and left it to its destruction. they probably died fighting against hela.

‘i’m sorry for your loss, brother,’ he says, and means it. for all that he never really saw eye to eye with any of them, they were thor’s closest friends, and they were among asgard’s best warriors.

thor seems to deflate, just a tiny bit, and loki approaches him. he places a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder, and doesn’t say anything more, hoping that just his presence will be enough to soothe him, if only a little.

(he knows, of course, that it will never be enough. he will never be enough.)

‘i just wish i had gotten to say goodbye,’ thor says, voice quiet. ‘i never manage to say goodbye.’ and he sounds so much like the little boy he once was, rather than the king he is now, that loki’s heart cracks a little for him.

‘i’m sure they died heroic deaths and are now feasting in valhalla,’ he says, because what else can he say?

‘hela killed fandral and volstagg as soon as she reached asgard,’ he says, and oh. lokis feels a stab of guilt at that. had he not rushed in ordering their return, thor’s friends might not have died so soon. ‘hogun died with most of the army, heimdall said. hela butchered them all.’

his voice cracks, falters, and loki squeezes the shoulder under his palm. he doesn’t know what else to do to comfort thor, so they lapse into silence, looking out into the the void of space.

after a while, a thought needles, and loki remembers something that he hasn’t thought about in quite a while. yes, the warriors three are dead, but…

‘brother,’ he starts, hesitant, but this might put thor in a lighter mood, so he forges ahead. ‘not all your friends are dead,’ he says, and he can feel thor’s shoulders tensing under his touch.

thor looks up at him, a question in his eye, and loki goes to clarify. ‘i mean, it’s been a while, and anything could have happened in the meantime, but…’ he sighs, and looks at the stars again. ‘sif wasn’t on asgard,’ he says.

‘what?’ thor says, and there’s a mix of disbelief and hope coloring his voice. he stands up.

‘i banished her to vanaheim after the whole affair with the dark elves and the aether,’ loki explains. ‘i believed she and heimdall were the only ones who could see through my illusions and uncover the truth about who was really sitting on the throne of asgard, so i made sure they were not a threat.’

thor frowns at that, and loki wonders if he’d made a mistake, bringing up such a sore subject. thor surprises him again. (and really, he’s starting to do that a lot lately, and loki doesn’t know what to think of it.)

‘but,’ thor starts, confused, ’sif has not the ability to see through your illusions, loki. how was she a threat?’ and loki has to snort at that.

‘really, brother,’ he says, almost scolding, ‘she was the smartest of your friends, and she was always, always suspicious of me, even when we were but children. if anyone could figure it out, it was her.’

thor smiles at that, the fondness of centuries of friendship, of camaraderie, tugging at the corners of his mouth and alighting in his eyes. ‘tis true,’ he says, and claps a hand on loki’s shoulder. his grin is infectious.

‘we can ask heimdall to check on her,’ he suggests, if only because he knows it’s exactly what thor is thinking. ‘we might not be able to go pick her up, i don’t think this ship can handle the detour, not without another wormhole, but at least you will know she is alive and safe.’

thor hugs him at that, bone-crushing and breath-stealing, almost as hard as when he’d appeared in front of him on the ship, catching the bottle stopper and proving his corporeal presence.

and somehow, it warms loki to his core, more so than it did then.

‘thank you, brother,’ thor whispers into loki’s temple, and he can do nothing but nod and try not to drown in this almost forgotten warmth.


End file.
